Interview Highlights:

The following is a condensed version of the full audio interview, which can be found in the above link at Science of Skill’s SoundCloud station.

Marcus Roth: This is Marcus Roth with The Science of Skill Self Protection Podcast. I’m here with Chris Butler, a IED detection and prevention expert here all the way from Texas. Chris, IEDs in the states is something that doesn’t come up all that often, and when it does it’s always very unfortunate. What exactly led you down the career path of being an IED detection and prevention expert here in the United States?

Chris Butler: After I got out of the Army, that was right at at the beginning of the Iraq war, there was a full swing of looking for expertise in dealing with IEDs. There was actually a task force started by the Pentagon due to the fact that there was so many congressmen asking for investigations into why so many troops overseas were dying from these IED attacks. Basically the G3 of the Army at the time, General Cody, started up the IED task force. That was myself and several other individuals that were sent over to Iraq to address the problem of how do we deal with IEDs and how do we keep our troops from getting killed by these IEDs. That’s what led me over to the civilian sector of working with IEDs.

MR: What does your job look like now? Are you consulting or are you actually ever in some sort of bomb protective suit? Are you actually on the field ever or is that young man’s work?

CB: Surprisingly a lot of guys stay active in the field and they’re putting on that 80 pound bomb suit and their taking that longest walk. I’ve known guys well into their 50s who are doing that kind of work. A lot of times now, I’m an instructor. Can I still throw a bomb suit on and still do it? Yes, because I’ve taught it so much. I know exactly what I’m supposed to do. It’s more of a theoretical exercise. You got to stay on top of it. You got to stay smart. You got to read your intelligence reports.

MR: How might the average unlucky listener come across an IED and what should they do in that scenario?

CB: Their best bet, is if they see something that seems strange and out of place or even if they’re in a strange place they’ve never been before and they somebody sticking something in the garbage can, messing around with it and then walking away very quickly. Basically, if they see something, they should say something but they should also be immediately moving out of the area. You need to get as far away from this is as you can as quickly as you can.

MR: Now let’s imagine a fictional scenario where an IED has just been detonated. What is the first thing, the very first thing a listener should do, and what should they do after that?

CB: It’s pretty close to what they would do if they found one pre-detonation. Let’s just say we have an IED, maybe a large vehicle bomb kind of like the Oklahoma City bombing that took place back in 1996. That bomb was so big, several thousand pounds of ammonium nitrate that it destroyed about a third of that building. There was damage to buildings in a 16 block radius. Say if you’re out in the open and an IED goes off, you obviously immediately need to get out of that area. Stay away from structures that could easily break. Stay away from large windows. Five percent of the deaths in the Oklahoma City bombing were from glass fragmentation. It blew out windows and those windows just cut people to shreds.

MR: Let’s talk about what an IED might look like now. I understand they could be very different given the nature that they are improvised, but there must be some kind of similarities that they average listener may want to be looking out for to detect one…

CB: Basically, unless this person steals explosives from some mining or quarry company, this person is probably going to have to make explosives. That’s what we call “HME”, home made explosives. You’re not going to see the big projectile. You’re not going to see the round shape of a mine. You’re probably going to have baggies. Baggies might be in some kind of shrapnel container like a pressure cooker. All that could be hidden in a backpack.

A lot of times in Afghanistan and Iraq, the local populous would see somebody walking down the road with an IED, but they wouldn’t say anything to us. Obviously because they didn’t like us. They didn’t want us there. That person could move freely. In the United States however, if you saw somebody walking around with a bundle of dynamite, you know somebody’s going to say something. We have a lot more police. The guy is probably going to get snatched up before he can get to his target destination. Therefore, he knows he’s going to have to camouflage the IED What’s easiest to carry it around in? You want to carry around a big pipe for a pipe bomb? No. Probably a back pack or a briefcase. Heaven forbid, we’re getting suicide bombers. Bulky clothing can be hiding explosive vests or belts under bulky clothing. I would say most instances, and this is just my opinion once again, don’t take this as gospel, that an IED most usually is probably going to be in a backpack or a briefcase or some kind of carrying bag to disguise it.

MR: Can we talk about what an IED explosion may look like? How far can the deadly shrapnel travel and what about the shock wave? The nature of IEDs that they’re probably different each time, but in general, what are hard but general facts our listeners may want to know.

CB: It depends on the type of explosives that person uses, and it also depends on the amount. If it’s a small five pounds of explosive pounds of explosive charge, you might see a quick flash and then a lot of smoke. If it’s a larger vehicle bomb, a lot more explosives, it’s up off the ground, then you’re going to see a large fireball and you’re going to see a lot of smoke afterwards.

MR: Being behind anything, does that help? Let’s say you jump behind a car and you’re a good distance away. Is that going to dampen the shock wave?

CB: It’ll help work it around you. It’ll help deflect it. It might keep you safe from the shrapnel. Depends on how much explosives, what kind of explosives. Unfortunately that blast pressure, the PSI, it’s not going to really change it that much. It’s more dangerous to be in a building and have a bomb go off because, to put in layman’s terms, that blast pressure gets focused and reverberates. So you’re taking several more hits than you would if you’re in open field and just one comes washing over you. That’s something to be aware of. Another good reason to get out of the building.

MR: Where can a listener contact you or find more information about the subject if they want to learn from you?

Chris Butler:
They can get in touch through the company I’m working with, it is cgpgmg.com

NYCA Bombings 17-19 September

New York and New Jersey Bombings by:Chris Butler, the Nations Leading IED and Explosive Detection / Awareness Expert

Both bombings that occurred over the weekend were “acts of terrorism” despite what Mayor de Blasio spins for the liberal, progressive agenda. Bombings by nature are either for the express purpose of destroying your perceived enemy or to push a political agenda by trying to terrorize and coerce the populace into accepting your agenda, through repeated attacks on their safety.

The Improvised Explosive Device (IED) that detonated at the Seapark race event in NJ was a technical and strategically sound act of terrorism by bombing. Fortunately due to the late start of the race there were few people in the target vicinity. This tells me that the pipe bomb, as it is currently being called, had a timer detonating device. The bomber had no direct control over the device’s detonation after they activated the countdown and couldn’t readjust the timer setting without exposing themselves and the location of the IED.

IED that detonated in Manhattan

The IED that detonated in Manhattan, on 23rd Street, was a technically sound terrorism bombing but not strategically sound. Due to me not wanting to give aspiring terrorists pointers I’m leaving out why this is so. The second IED that was found by police doing a sweep, on 27th Street, was a pressure cooker style IED, utilizing a cell phone as the trigger for detonation. This device is found all over the Middle East and on various jihadist websites. It’s the same type of IED responsible for the carnage at the Boston Marathon in April of 2013. The two brothers who perpetrated that attack were Muslim and had obviously gained IED building knowledge through their Middle Eastern contacts.

IED Exploding

The third IED was a backpack that contained 5 IEDs. Initially found by two civilians sitting on a garbage can, outside of a train station in Elizabeth, NJ. The two men noticed a couple of protruding wires coming out of the backpack and notified authorities. Police Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) technicians investigated the IEDs and during the course of their investigation one of the IEDs exploded. The other four IEDs were secured and rendered safe. The backpack full of IEDs near a busy travel hub, like the train station, is very tactically astute. Not having the IED build Intel yet I cannot say if the protruding wires were part of the trigger for the detonating system or a safe to arm feature. My educated guess, based on my current knowledge of the device; the backpack IED was set up with a timer trigger for the detonation system. A timed IED keeps the bomber physically safe and helps to provide safe separation to support a bomber’s alibi if confronted by authorities.

New York and New Jersey Bombings Timeline

Timeline of the NYCA Bombing Events

Saturday, Sept. 17

9:30 a.m.: A bomb hidden in a trash can explodes in Seaside Heights, New Jersey, near the location of the Semper Five Marine Corps Charity 5K race.

8:31 p.m.: An explosion in Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood sends 29 people to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

11 p.m.: New York Mayor Bill de Blasio calls the explosion “an intentional act” but stops short of calling it terrorism, saying “there is no specific and credible threat to New York City from any terror organization.” He also notes there is no evidence that the bomb in Chelsea was related to the explosion in Seaside Heights.

Shortly after the press conference: A pressure cooker with wires coming out of it and a cellphone connected to it with duct tape is discovered on 27th Street, about four blocks away from where the bomb exploded in Chelsea.

Sunday, Sept. 18

2:23 a.m.: The device that had been discovered on 27th Street is safely removed.

8:30 p.m.: Two men coming out of a restaurant near a train station in Elizabeth, New Jersey, find a backpack sitting on top of a garbage can and take it. After walking with the extremely heavy bag for about 1,000 feet, the men put it down, and notice wires protruding from it. At around 8:45 p.m., they alerted the Elizabeth Police Department.

10:30 p.m.: Late Sunday night, two law enforcement officials said that investigators stopped a car on the Belt Parkway near the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge and took five people to an FBI office in Manhattan for questioning in the bombing investigation. One of the officials said that all or most of them may have been from the same family and that they may have been on their way to the airport.

Monday, Sept. 19

12:30 a.m.: After the FBI takes over the scene in Elizabeth, two robots are used to determine the backpack contains five explosives. One of the explosives goes off accidentally—but luckily causes no injuries—before the other four are secured.

Approximately 7:30 a.m.: The FBI releases a photo of a 28-year-old Ahmad Khan Rahami from Elizabeth, New Jersey, saying he is “wanted for questioning” in connection with the Chelsea bombing. He is described as a United States citizen of Afghan descent. Officials later tell CNN that it is believed Rahami is the man seen in surveillance videos taken near the scene of the Chelsea bombing and the location of the pressure cooker device discovered on 27th Street.

The mantra for dealing with an active shooter has long been “run, hide and fight” — a response one expert says needs to change. Expert Disputes Common Response to Active Shooter.

The approach of run if you can, hide if you can’t run, and fight if you must is a highly flawed process to follow in the midst of terror, said Chris Grollnek, one of the top nationally-recognized active shooter and domestic terrorism prevention experts for critical incident response.

“Why would you think hiding under a desk would be a good idea?” Grollneck said. “If I told you there was a bomb, you would run. It’s the same principle.”

In the face of an active shooter situation, Grollnek said people need to be trained instead to evade, evacuate and engage as a last resort.

Grollnek, who’s spent nearly a decade researching active shooter incidents since being involved in one himself at the McKinney Police Department in 2010, said evidence shows running works, while hiding doesn’t.

“If we don’t install the message of ‘get out’ into everybody,” Grollneck said, the next question has to be, “What are your chances of surviving if you’re hiding?

The nightmare of coming face-to-face with an active shooter became real Tuesday morning when Mohammad Moghaddam, 54, walked into Walmart, 4215 Canyon Drive, and fired his gun once before taking the store manager and another employee hostage. Whether Moghaddam, also an employee, ever had the thought to open fire on the crowd is unknown.

City officials said his actions were not considered a terroristic threat and instead were summed up as workplace violence following a dispute over a promotion.

Grollnek said while it is important for businesses such as Walmart to have a comprehensive protocol for active shooters, it’s also crucial for the general public to be prepared.

In any situtation, Grollnek said people should know where the exits are, take an assessment of their chances for escape and, if traveling with others, discuss what to do in case of an emergency.

When escaping from a building, Grollnek suggests running, using a cover and throwing things in the air to distract the shooter.

He also said it’s important to understand that the person with the gun has a strategy.

“They have a plan,” he said. “You just have to be smarter than their plan.”

By national average, active shooter events tend to end in seven minutes. Typically it takes law enforcement 17 minutes to respond to the scene of a shooting and develop a course of action.

The exact timeline of Tuesday’s incident at Walmart is not yet fully known. The initial 911 call was received about 11:06 a.m. Fire marshals and police officers arrived in less than five minutes. After the SWAT team entered the building, the incident ended about an hour and 15 minutes after the initial call.

Among events Grollnek has studied, the average time responders reach a first victim, alive or dead, is 23 minutes.

“Given those statistics, we must reach further to provide common sense training to every employee and beyond,” he said.

Walmart did not respond to an email request Wednesday about its policies and procedures in the case of an active shooter inside a store.

An official spokesperson released the following statement Tuesday: “As soon as we heard about the situation at our store in Amarillo, Texas, we acted immediately. All customers and our two associates who were held hostage are safe.”

The bottom line, Grollnek said, is that people need to realize we live in a different world today.

According to federal statistics, there has been an uptick in violent workplace incidents.

From 2006 to 2010, the last year for which final data are available, the Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries reported an average of 551 workers per year killed as a result of work-related homicides. Of the 518 in 2010, 77 were multiple-fatality incidents.

“We must ask ourselves, ‘What if another one happens tomorrow?’” Grollnek said.

Mohammad Moghaddam’s mugshot was taken from a 2003 driver’s license application.

On Thursday, April 28th at about 1 p.m., Alex Brizzi, 25, headed to the FOX 45 Baltimore TV station wearing what police called a “panda outfit onesie”, a red vest-like device, surgical mask, sunglasses, and what he claimed was a bomb.

Brizzi had set his car on fire in the parking lot before entering the TV station building. Brizzi entered the TV Station’s secure vestibule and demanded access to the TV station so he could air a story about a government conspiracy. The information he wanted to share was on a flash drive.

The security guard kept the Brizzi out of the TV station’s newsroom and called 911. The vestibule was secured and access to the rest of the TV Station required security to buzz personnel through a secure door. While keeping Brizzi talking the security guard implemented an evacuation of the rest of the FOX 45 building.

SWAT arrived on scene, and Brizzi hid inside a vestibule and threatened to blow up thebuilding. After an hour and a half, Brizzi went voluntarily outside with his hands in his pockets. He then began to approach SWAT forces. SWAT demanded Brizzi stop and remove his hands from his pockets.

Brizzi refused to take his hands out of his pockets as he continued to advance towards the police. SWAT then engaged Brizzi with small arms. Brizzi was shot by SWAT 3 times, one shot by three different officers. Brizzi sustained wounds in the neck, wrist, buttock, and right leg. Due to the shot to the neck, Brizzi collapsed to the ground. SWAT withdrew and the bomb squad sent their robot to perform a reconnaissance of the explosive vest Brizzi claimed he had strapped to his chest.

The bomb squad used their robot to communicate with Brizzi and try and get him to remove the suspected bomb from his person. Brizzi declined to comply with the bomb squad’s demands. The bomb squad utilized the robot to remove Brizzi’s clothing and investigated the suspected bomb strapped to Brizzi’s chest. Eventually, the bomb was removed by the robot and was moved to a safe area to be further investigated. The vest bomb turned out to be a hoax.

The hoax bomb turned out to be chocolate bars wrapped in aluminum foil and wires. The wires led to a computer motherboard attached to a red life preserver. No explosives or detonators were found. SWAT then approached Brizzi, secured him and took him to EMS personnel for treatment of his wounds.

SWAT ACTIONS
SWAT personnel got too close to the suspect. If that had been an actual explosive vest and it detonated SWAT personnel would have been wounded from primary and secondary fragmentation.

Shots to the head are the only shots that should be taken on a suspect with a bomb strapped to them. Loose fitting clothing could have hid more explosives around the suspect’s waist, groin and legs. Shooting the suspect in the wrist and leg could have potentially set an explosive device off. If the suspect was holding a potential trigger to the alleged bomb he had strapped to him it could have had a “Dead man” switch. That type of switch initiates a bomb if pressure from the hand is released. A shot to the wrist could have inadvertently released the grip of the suspect’s hand, setting the bomb off.

Bomb Squad ACTIONS
Bomb Squad personnel performed admirably. They utilized the full range of capabilities their robot was capable of. They made the correct decision to remotely interrogate the suspected bomb utilizing the robot. They were able to separate the suspected bomb from the suspect and remove it immediately to a safe area.

Hi Chris, your one-day speaker registration has been received and we’re grateful for your participation. You may use this page as your confirmation. If you need to add social event tickets (included for the day you are speaking), you may use this confirmation number and go back into the system and modify your registration.

We look forward to seeing you in Atlanta and to a successful conference!

Active Shooter Training Community Seminar

Active Shooter Prevention Expert and National Policy Advisor, Chris Grollnek, left, spoke with Sturgis Director of Public Safety Geoff Smith at a the Chamber of Commerce in Sturgis Michigan Wednesday with the Nations Most Sought IED’s and Explosive (EOD) Event Prevention Strategist Chris Butler

Open Note to Sturgis, Michigan, Chamber of Commerce for the Active Shooter Training Community Seminar: The forward thinking of the local chapter of the Sturgis, Michigan Chamber of Commerce went well beyond what we typically witness around the country when speaking about Active Shooter Prevention and reducing Acts of Aggression and Violence. This past Wednesday, Chris Grollnek and Chris Butler of Safe2Safest spent the day with 182 participants from the surrounding area and the neighboring state of Indiana.

The focus of the seminar was inclusive of a lecture of past incidents, the reality of who the actual first responders are and the need for personal accountability to gain an upper hand for active shooter incidents and understanding these are beginning to evolve. Active Shooter Prevention is a terrible condition we will have to manage as we go and not expect to be a problem we can solve. That said, Grollnek and Butler delivered best practices of survival and mindset hitting high on expectations and putting into perspective the reality of more guns don’t necessarily create a safer environment. Grollnek stated; “its not the gun that will save you, its a more powerful weapon and that is your mind“!

While this is and continues to be an opportunity for the entire community and surrounding areas to plan, by simple word of mouth 182 seats filled in short order. The entire endorsement of Active Shooter Training and Improvised Explosive Device recognition and prevention is a welcoming topic. The Chamber of Commerce was an exceptional demonstration that when the community partners with such organizations, complex messages and misinformed fear mongering can be reversed to a simple and understandable middle ground of understanding. This training is a palatable message for families, guests, visitors, schools and most importantly, the number one target of such events, businesses. Chris Grollnek went far out of his way to point out; “we send our teenagers to safe driving courses, knowing car accidents are more likely than these types of events, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t teach them how to survive just the same”. “Its a different world we live in Chris Butler went on to say regarding the United States as the fifth most active country in the world for explosive device mitigation incidents. This followed Butler noting an average of 30 explosive device events a month take place year over year domestically. When participants understand we’re not out to make them experts, but instead provide that baseline of understanding, the survival goals of these situations is to remove being paralyzed by fear.

We are exceptionally proud of the community effort and saddened by several recent accounts of active shooter incidents in nearby communities and violent acts in other surrounding area(s). We are truly grateful for the opportunity to assist in limiting the exposure to such dangers within this tight knit community. Thank you for everything, the warm hospitality, hosting opportunity and gracious coverage. Sincerely Chris Grollnek.

About 200 people attended a community seminar about active shooter prevention and response Wednesday at Sturges-Young Auditorium.

The seminar, hosted by Sturgis Area Chamber of Commerce and made possible by an anonymous donor, featured active shooter prevention expert Chris Grollnek, who has been featured on Fox News, CNN, NBC, ABC and CBS.

Grollnek opened by telling the audience what bad luck he has had. He is one of only three people known in the country to have been involved in and survived two active shooter incidents.

“I’ve learned more through experience than any textbook,” he told those in attendance.

Grollnek, a former police corporal and U.S. Marine Corps veteran, has since studied such events in an attempt to save the lives of others.

“These incidents take so much out of me,” he said. “You go there and you see these things and they never leave you.”

Grollnek went on to say that the more he speaks at seminars like the one held Wednesday, the more he hears people say “my cousin” was there (at an active shooter incident), for example.

And while active-shooter incidents may seem relatively new, Grollnek said they have been occurring since the 1780s.

According to Grollnek, the average active shooter incident takes up to about seven minutes to unfold. It requires about 17 minutes for police to respond, he said.

“I want my daughter to know what to do zero to 17 (minutes) and everything in between,” he said.

Grollnek encouraged people in attendance to begin having conversations with their loved ones about how to survive an active shooter incident. He advised that eighth grade is an appropriate time to begin talking to children.

For Grollnek, hiding is not the best option when faced with an active shooter.

“Get out!” he said.

It takes police officials an average of 23 minutes to respond to hostages and victims, he added.

“These numbers are scary,” Grollnek said.

And the profile of an active shooter? According to Grollnek, there isn’t one. The youngest ever was a 5-year-old girl, he said. The oldest was a 96-year-old man.

The number of active shooter incidents has increased dramatically since 2012, Grollnek said.

“It won’t happen here” is no longer a valid argument, he said.

Chris Butler, IED/EOD expert, also spoke at the seminar. Butler said there are 30 improvised explosive device incidents per month in the U.S., which ranks the nation 5th in the world.

FBI’s List Of Terrorist Camps In America

According to the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI), America is threatened by 22 Islamic guerrilla communes publishing the, FBI’s List Of Terrorist Camps In America… and there might be more! The groups are run by Jamaat al-Fuqra, which is based in Pakistan. Its main front group is “Muslims of the Americas.”

Conservative bloggers such as Pam Geller have focused on their growth since 2007. Now, we have the full list of locations: Is your city on the map?

In addition, a 2007 FBI record states members of the group have been involved in at least 10 murders, one disappearance, three firebombings, one attempted firebombing, and two explosive bombings and one attempted bombing.

Congress has been aware of Islamic jihadist training camps in multiple states for years. But under Obama’s poor leadership, terrorist attacks are on the rise while these camps are allowed to continue training deadly radicals. We need to be willing to defeat terrorists before they strike.

With a goal of reducing both morbidity and mortality, we estimated the frequency and severity of active shooter events in the U.S. from 2013-2015, based on data from http://www.shootingtracker.com who track both injured and killed, and who dene an event as when at least 4 people are shot.

Using data downloaded 2015-12-05 we used R version 3.2.1 (2015-06-18) [1] to estimate the frequency and severity of events reported in the media (links to news stories available from http://www.shootingtracker.com).

2 Tables

Table 1 shows by year the number of events, the average number of events per week in each year, and (assuming a threshold to dene “high-prole”of ve or more killed for possible newsworthiness; this assumption can be easily changed) the average number of high-prole events per month in each year. Tables 2 through 4 show year-specic data per event.

Case on Jessie Daniel Green

Jessie Daniel Green was booked in Madison County, AL on 9/25/2015 at 07:36 for DOMESTIC VIOLENCE THIRD DEGREE–CRIMINAL MISCHIEF, THIRD DEGREE

September 25, 2015, Jessie Daniel Green was arrested and booked for domestic assault and criminal mischief. Later that day, Heather Nicole Green filed a protective order against her estranged husband that was immediately granted by the Madison County District Court without a hearing. Judge Claude E. Hundley III later issued a final hearing to be set for Friday, October 9, 2015. Whether it was known to heather or not, Jessie attended the hearing that day, and when she did not attend, the protective order was dismissed. It remains to be seen whether or not she even knew about the hearing, or that the order was dismissed that day or not. Three days later, on October 12, 2015, heather Nicole Green was murdered in front of her three children parked in her vehicle in a parking lot adjacent to the Huntsville Medical Utilities Building.

“That was two weeks ago, so much has happened since then, this is old news.” That is absolutely right, and the exact reason why I waited two weeks to write this. Because the sad reality is that so much “has” happened since then, specifically, situations very similar to this incident happen every day in this country, and are quickly forgotten by the masses because they are so desensitized by now, if they don’t know the individuals involved, they don’t care. The other side is that we rarely hear about it because it “is” too similar to everything else relating to domestic violence and doesn’t’ hold enough differentiating factors to warrant a thirty second spot in the news. I bet you know every detail about that drug addict “fighting for his life” because he overdosed at a brothel though. That, is unfortunate, and perfectly annotates the sad state that we live in now. When a mother of three, recently separated and living in fear from her own husband, files for some form of “help and awareness” with the court, and all they can do is give her a piece of paper that says they told him to go away, we are in trouble as a country.

Now granted, a protective order for individuals hell-bent on a violent mission is the equivalent to a “gun free zone” sign at a school; but this situation not only plays out perpetually in this country, but could also have been prevented. Diverting from the obvious hindsight being 20/20 comments, a rational response to the prevention of such horrific incidents is critical to ensure this doesn’t continue to occur in this country any longer. Unless they are locked up, a known violent individual has wide open access to his/her target without any deterrence. A slightly unfair statement given that authorities can’t follow every criminal and protect everyone, but domestic violence cases, especially when children are involved, and separation has occurred between spouses or significant others, is a special circumstance that warrants more attention. The amount of lives affected increases dramatically when children are involved in these violent incidents and the individual occurrences they’re subjected to at a young age carry a higher potential of negatively impacting who they become as adults. Prevention is the key, but it can only be accomplished through ambition, self-reliance, and training. We cannot rely on the system to fix everything, and the authorities or help to “get there” in time, much like knowing CPR, or what to do if your friend is choking, if you have a volatile situation brewing, recognizing and mitigating that issue before it escalates is crucial to survival. There are very few words you can say to someone in the middle of a “rage’ that will de-escalate a situation, but it is very difficult to assault someone who isn’t there or one that can defend themselves. Whether you are confident with your hands, or not, there are always pre-incident indicators that will reveal that the “honeymoon” is over and it is time to move on, physically and emotionally.

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — The murder of a TV news reporter and photographer by a former coworker is a wakeup call about issues surrounding workplace violence.

A former manager of the Virginia station says the shooter, a former reporter, had been fired two years and caused enough of a scene that the station called police.

Hector Alvarez, a security expert, trains companies in workplace safety. He says while the incidents may be hard to time out, there are almost always warning signs.

“There is no checklist, there is no profile of the person that will come back and do this. What there is, however, is a very clear pattern of behaviors leading up to it,” he said.

Often times, he says, it’s from the same type of people.

“I like to call these injustice collectors. They hold a grievance and no matter what you try to do, they don’t resolve, and their reaction is disproportionate to what the incident is,” he said.

One incident happened in the Sacramento area back in 2012 when a disgruntled former employee shot and killed Cordova Recreation and Park District superintendent Steve Ebert as he arrived at work.

Alvarez says to cut back on workplace violence, employees must speak up when they hear threats or witness odd behavior. Employers must protect employees who make reports, and companies have to investigate cases and notify law enforcement.

“We have to protect the people who bring concerns forward, just as much as the person who is the object of the threat,” he said.

While not all incidents can be avoided, he says it’s frustrating how many cases he’s seen where a threat was made or behavior turned bizarre, but no one spoke up.

Photographer Shines Spotlight On Preventing Workplace Violence

Filed under Hecto Alvarez WorkPlace Violence 97542 SacCal

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And another interview from Hector who is one of the foremost experts in Work Place Violence and how to train to prevent it…